[OPINION] Duterte impeachment trial Day 8: Matibag goes for broke, says Sara a 'threat' to national security

Matibag neatly wove this narrative, all a result of his evaluation and appreciation of NBI investigations, from the one by the Cybercrime Division before he took office, until he created the Special Task Force in April 2026, now doing a “continuing investigation” of the “plot against the Marcoses and the national security.”

Sara's rating

He said he had been seeing the adverse public reaction to Duterte's threats on social media, and in some other fora. But all these are transitory, as he said; surveys showed that Duterte enjoyed a high rating over the President.

A lawyer, the top NBI guy, a long-time government man, Matibag impressed upon the court that the NBI, a criminal investigative body, was tackling the “national security threat,” but without any mention of the involvement of top government agencies involved with national security: the Department of National Defense, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the National Security Council, and the National Intelligence Agency.

Neither did defense lawyer Atty. Mark Vinluan tackle the same on cross-examination.

Before Matibag appeared in court, House leaders bragged about Matibag’s appearance, saying they expected Matibag to drop a “bombshell,” possibly to name the supposed assassin, complete the puzzle, and seal Article IV for good.

He was expected to come with all guns blazing, so to speak.

‘Overpromised?’

After two hours of direct examination, the prosecution failed to extract the “bombshell,” prompting another lawyer appearing as a resource person on live television to say that the prosecution seemed to have “overpromised” on Matibag’s testimony.

Matibag ended up not willing to identify anyone, except to say that the NBI investigation was a “continuing investigation” and that he could not disclose “persons of interest,” including a person whom Duterte could have talked to, supposedly to carry out the alleged threat.

“We can’t disclose their identities, because this would erode our investigation and endanger their lives,” he said. “If I disclose, these people would not trust us anymore.”

It is ironic that each time the prosecution dragged the hearing on the alleged assassin, the hearing would zero in on the probable criminal liability of the Vice President, which demands conviction beyond reasonable doubt, not the possible culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution, a betrayal of trust, which demands less. “Hindi po nangangahulugan na sila na mismo ang kinausap (ni Duterte),” Matibag said.

Neither did Matibag tackle at length threats against Duterte, which triggered her outburst to air threats against the Marcoses.

Five standards

Matibag said the NBI had established and complied with five standards in evaluating a threat for the NBI to conclude that Duterte’s outburst was not just a simple outburst, not just a threat, but a plot to kill, and a threat against national security.

Among these were a pattern of violence; gravity and seriousness of the threat; identification of (Duterte) making the threats; the capacity to carry over the threats; and the motive of (Duterte) for making the threats.

He cited the announcement of Duterte's youngest brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, who, like the Vice President, allegedly wanted the President dead. A video was played quoting the mayor that he only wanted one head, and that was Marcos' head.

He exhumed an affidavit of Duterte critic Arthur Lascana, who cited the VP as having been a part of the former President’s bloody drug war in his time, to reinforce his view that Duterte has exhibited behavior showing “a pattern of violence.”

All these created “kinetic force” for political partisans, with ordinary criminals taking advantage of the chaos created by Duterte’s threats.

But his narrative fell flat on the first ground.

Lascana’s affidavit presented in court was unsigned, not sworn, not subscribed to before a counsel, though the story contained in the affidavit had been told many times in various media reports. “Hearsay,” the defense counsel declared.

On direct examination by the prosecution, Matibag, who has always been otherwise a tough-talking guy, appeared reserved and composed in the hearing, providing answers only when asked, contrary to his usual self, the otherwise fighting Matibag, always combative.

Hardly had he warmed his seat, Matibag was censured by the presiding officer, senator-judge Chiz Escudero, over announcements that the NBI had been investigating some politicians over complaints of corruption. Escudero told Matibag to be more circumspect next time.

Matibag in NBI

Matibag joined the NBI in February 2026, more than a year after NBI agents wrapped its investigation asking the Department of Justice to charge Duterte with three counts of grave threats and one count of inciting to sedition based on a video recording of a news conference where she went berserk, cursing the first family for the alleged threats on her life.

In January 2025, the NBI forwarded its complaint to the DOJ. It was, however, returned the following month, with the DOJ saying it lacked sufficient evidence.

Before his appointment, Matibag made a name for himself under the Duterte administration, as a Cabinet member, president and CEO of the National Transmission Corporation, and spokesman of the former Partido Demokratiko Pilipino.

As PDP spokesman, Matibag took all comers, including former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, and as Transco chief, he took all Duterte critics, including officials of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, to task in defending the Duterte administration.

He was always in his element on the defense, so to speak.

Today, Matibag seemed to have undergone a reversal of roles, reminiscent of Roman general Caius Marcius Coriolanus in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Coriolanus.

The man charged once upon a time zealously guarding the gates of the political fortress of President Duterte was now storming as zealously the same gates, now held by the daughter.

‘Threats gone wide’

When the prosecution revealed that Matibag was expected to drop a bombshell, it was easily believable because, like Coriolanus in Rome, Matibag would know “where bodies were buried” or, simply put, he would know some secrets, or some “skeletons in the closet” the Dutertes had kept for a long time.

Early in the trial, chief prosecutor Gerville Luistro tried to portray Matibag as a man loyal to his assigned duty, despite the changing political winds.

As of this writing, Matibag said the threats against the Marcoses have gone far and wide. “Malawak na po,” with Duterte providing a bad example to people who wished other people some harm.

Could be, but what was clear so far is that this nation is somehow deeply polarized; the country’s two highest officials, once put together by their ambitions in the May 2022 elections, have gone opposite ways, and the parting has gone so bitter. Some people said it had ended up in the impeachment trial.

Still, it is hoped that the fair conclusion of the trial would settle all that.

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